Introduction

*Updated as of 2nd June 2013 - Originally published as a preliminary review on 30th May, we've since refreshed our comparison results to update the article to a full review, complete with ratings.

Double Seven, Oh

Over a year ago, NVIDIA introduced the first of their first 28nm GPU based on their new Kepler architecture - the GeForce GTX 680 - to critical acclaim. The then new GeForce GTX 680, and specifically its GK104 GPU, was quite simply astounding in many ways, offering unprecedented levels of performance at unheard of power levels.

Mostly recently, NVIDIA topped that off with the GeForce GTX Titan, which unleashed the full unbridled fury of Kepler onto any gamers with deep enough pockets to get their hands on one. With its 2688 CUDA cores, it is the fastest single GPU card we have ever tested.

And just last week, NVIDIA offered a new high-end card to the gaming masses - the GeForce GTX 780. Despite being the first of the "new" GeForce GTX 700 series, the GeForce GTX 780 is not based on the highly anticipated "Maxwell"architecture. Instead, the GeForce GTX 780 can be thought of as GeForce GTX Titan Light, as it utilizes a slightly pared down version of the vaunted GK110 GPU used on the GTX Titan.

Today, just a week before Computex 2013, NVIDIA is bolstering the GeForce GTX 700 series with yet another SKU, the GeForce GTX 770. Not unlike the GeForce GTX 780, the new GeForce GTX 770 is powered by a Kepler chip, this time, the GK104. To be specific, the GK104 in the GeForce GTX 770 is identical in specifications to the GeForce GTX 680, save for modified clock speeds.

This means 8 SMX units and a grand total of 1536 CUDA cores. Base clock speeds have been boosted to 1046MHz (up from 1006MHz); but maximum GPU Boost clock speeds have been toned down to 1085MHz (down from 1110MHz). Finally, memory clock speeds received the most substantial boost and is now a staggering 7012MHz DDR (up from 6008MHz DDR). It is the first graphics card to boast a 7GHz memory clock rate, thus setting its own little record. The card will be offered by NVIDIA’s add-in board partners with either 2GB or 4GB of GDDR5 framebuffer.

The GeForce GTX 770 will also benefit from NVIDIA’s second generation GPU Boost 2.0 technology. As detailed in our review of the GeForce GTX Titan, in which this new technology debuted in, GPU Boost 2.0 now uses a GPU temperature threshold to determine if clock speeds can be further boosted. Power draw is still a considering factor, but no longer the main one.